Steve Collins pleads no contest over dual role on desal project

Former Monterey County Water Resources Agency board member Steve Collins has pleaded no contest to a trio of charges in connection with his dual role on the failed regional desalination project, and his consulting work for Castroville artichoke grower Ocean Mist Farms.

Collins, who entered his plea before Judge Robert O'Farrell on Tuesday, is now facing up to a year in county jail and three years of probation, as well as restitution, although he is expected to qualify for alternative sentencing.

The 16-year veteran of the county water board and former county supervisorial candidate will also be barred from ever serving in elected or appointed office. He will be sentenced May 22.

Facing more than three dozen charges, Collins pleaded to just three of them, including single felony counts of conflict of interest and grand theft, and a misdemeanor count of receiving payment for an official act.

Collins was paid more than $160,000 by Marina Coast Water District consultant RMC Water and Environment for work he did on the $400 million regional desal project while he was a public official in 2010. He was also paid $89,000 over three years by Ocean Mist for meetings he either never attended or never occurred, said the prosecution, which also charged him with accepting payment from Ocean Mist for meetings he attended as a public official.

Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Hulsey said she and District Attorney Dean Flippo are pleased Collins admitted his wrongdoing and would be held accountable.

"It is important for our public officials to know having a financial interest" in official decisions they are making "is not only against the law, it won't be tolerated," she said.

In a news release, Flippo said it was "gratifying to know that after nearly three years, Mr. Collins has acknowledged his wrongdoing," and praised Hulsey for "tireless" efforts on a complex case that began in fall 2011 and generated thousands of pages of evidence, and included several judges and defense attorneys.

Collins' defense attorney Dan Clymo said his client was left with little choice after O'Farrell decimated his planned defense with a series of rulings Monday. Citing state Supreme Court precedence, the judge said Collins' claims that he had been asked by public officials to do the work, even if true, were not a legal defense.

"Honestly, we assumed incorrectly that Steve was going to have his day and tell a jury about what went wrong with the desalination project and who he thinks is responsible," Clymo said. "He thought he would be able to tell a jury that he was recruited (by county supervisors) and that they told him there was no conflict."

Clymo said he and Collins thought RMC Vice President Lyndel Melton and former Marina Coast Water District General Manager Jim Heitzman would be allowed to tell the jury that Curtis Weeks, former general manager of the Monterey County Water Resources Agency, repeatedly told them the Board of Supervisors wanted Collins to do the work and that the County Counsel's Office had signed off on it.

Likewise, he said, they believed the jury would hear that the county's outside counsel, the Downey Brand law firm, told Collins and an attorney for Marina Coast there was no conflict.

"Mr. Collins was very surprised and disheartened by the court's ruling and based on that didn't feel comfortable going to trial and being at risk of going to prison for 30 years," he said. "He decided to cut his losses."

Collins said the ruling left him feeling like he was "invited to a gun fight and only allowed a pocketknife. The risk-reward was off kilter."

In making his ruling Monday, O'Farrell said the evidence Collins had hoped to present, though not admissible at trial, could be more appropriate as mitigation at a sentencing. Clymo said he plans to submit a memorandum that will detail Collins' claims prior to his May 22 sentencing.

Under a plea agreement, neither the judge nor Hulsey will object to a jail sentence being served in work alternative, home confinement or through community service. The decision would be left up to the Monterey County Probation Office, and Clymo said the office has indicated that Collins' clean record and past community service would lend itself to serving any time outside of jail.

Collins said he has been promised by the prosecution that he wouldn't spend "a single day in jail," or he would never have agreed to the plea deal.

Supervisor Dave Potter, who was on the defense witness list, said he was ready to testify that he didn't know about Collins' dual role but was "glad to see the issue finally resolved" and that Collins "did the right thing."

"This was an awful long and expensive way to go," Potter said. "I'm sure it was a difficult time for him. It was an awkward time for all of us."

Supervisor Jane Parker said she was hopeful Collins' plea would help resolve other ongoing legal proceedings and allow the community to focus on finding a solution for its water supply challenges.

Collins may still get his day in court. Litigation is ongoing between Marina Coast, the county and California American Water over the costs of the failed desalination project and the validity of the contracts in which they were partners. The county declared the contracts invalid due to Collins' conflict of interest which, it says, was arranged by Marina Coast. Marina Coast is seeking to recoup between $15 million and $18 million in costs and maintains it arranged Collins' employment with RMC at the request of Weeks and Supervisor Lou Calcagno.

Collins previously invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination when called to testify in that case.

"He no longer has a Fifth Amendment to invoke," Clymo said Tuesday afternoon. "If he's subpoenaed he will have to answer all questions fully and truthfully."

As noted by the DA's news release, the state's Fair Political Practices Commission could proceed with its investigation into whether Collins and others violated the Political Reform Act. The FPPC suspended its investigation until the Collins criminal case was concluded, but the DA's release said the commission has more latitude to prosecute under the theory of aiding and abetting.

Collins began working for RMC in January 2010, and played a key role during the ensuing year in creating and promoting three key regional project agreements, which were ultimately approved by the Board of Supervisors in early 2011. RMC later won a $28 million contract to manage the project, which was backed by a partnership among California American Water, the county and Marina Coast. The project included a north Marina desal plant designed to provide a new water supply for the Peninsula to offset a state-ordered cutback in pumping from the Carmel River that takes full effect at the end of 2016.

State law prohibits public officials from having a financial interest in any contract made by them in their official capacity.

Collins' dual role was first revealed in March 2011 when The Herald reported that he had been paid by RMC for working on the regional project, and he resigned from the water board the following month.

The county and Marina Coast commissioned private law firms to conduct inquiries, which ultimately blamed the other, and the DA began a criminal investigation.

The regional project subsequently unraveled and Cal Am announced it was abandoning the proposal in early 2012 to pursue its own privately owned desal plant.